Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

Off the Record by Camryn Garrett

7 reviews

booksawyer's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Off The Record is Camryn Garrett’s sophomore novel, which captivated me from the first chapter. The story follows Josie, a black, plus size teen who aspires to be a journalist. Her talent leads her to win a prestigious writing contest, and her prize is the opportunity to write a profile on an up-and-coming movie star for her favorite magazine. 

As Josie starts her journey, she also discovers the horrific, yet unspoken, issue of sexual abuse in Hollywood. When faced with these injustices, Josie is asked to write a piece exposing a serial abuser in the industry, putting her journalism career at risk as it is just beginning.

Off The Record is the kind of book you will never get bored of reading. There are so many things going on in the story: the profile, the sexual abuse story, a romance, complicated family relationships, body insecurity, discussions of race, and more. This story is rich with details and conflict, and I felt truly captivated the whole time. 

As a plus size reviewer, I loved seeing a book about a plus size heroine that was evenly balanced between conversations of her size and her just living her life. Yes, Josie deals with her own insecurity and faces scrutiny from others, but she is also given a fully-fleshed out story where she has talents and struggles that are beyond her size.

This book contains so much great representation, and not just for plus size individuals and survivors of SA. There is so much BIPOC representation and two major characters (including the MC) are bisexual. It is so amazing to see a book with such a diverse set of characters! 

I didn’t expect this book to have a romance, but I was pleasantly surprised that it did! Honestly, the romance was one of my favorite elements of the story. The chemistry between the couple made me swoon and I couldn’t contain my anticipation for them to finally get to together! 

I really can’t say enough good things about Off The Record. I highly recommend this book to everyone! 
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asiantomato's review against another edition

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4.25

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taleofabibliophile's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional reflective tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

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betweentheshelves's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

2021 appears to be the year of YA contemporaries talking about powerful men getting exposed for abusing their power. I've read probably 3 or 4 books specifically on this topic that came out this year. I'm not complaining, though! I think these are important discussions to have, and the more we talk about it, the more we can hold these people accountable.

Outside of the plot/subject matter, there is a lot of great representation in this book. Josie struggles with being fat in the book, accepting herself and feeling confident. She's also bisexual (or possibly pansexual), though this is a much quieter part of the book. Garrett has crafted an extremely relevant book that I think will resonate with a lot of teens.
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pucksandpaperbacks's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional tense
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes

5.0

Camryn does it again with a spectacular sophomore novel following Josie, a 17-year old Black girl who loves writing and journalism. She wins a writing contest and spends 2 weeks traveling with the cast of a movie featuring a Black boy who is sent to conversion therapy. As a part of the contest, Josie has to write a profile piece of the main actor, Marice Canet. Josie spends a lot of time with him and we get to know both characters pretty well. Both Josie and Marice are bisexual and I loved seeing a blossoming romance between two bisexual leads. This is such an important story about sexual assault and harassment and also starts the conversation of any gender being harassed or assaulted. Off the Record talks about the power imbalance male directors have over their talent and the disgusting behavior that goes on behind the scenes and how they easily get away with it. I also really enjoyed and could relate to Josie's anxiety. The anxiety rep was done very well and I loved the line of Josie saying her anxiety never leaves, even if it feels at ease. Anxiety levels vary day to day and we really go to see that through Josie. Garrett also writes a complicated and messy sister relationship and I loved how it developed toward the end and that she and her sister, Alice still bicker and it isn't fully resolved. Highly recommend this! However, do see the trigger warnings because of the subject matter. 
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sidbookreviews's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

Wow, this book was so good! I loved Camryn Garrett's first book, Full Disclosure, but I think I loved this one even more! Off the Record is such an important and powerful book, and I absolutely loved Josie and her voice. Honestly so much of this book was just perfect, from the characters to the romance. Definitely a new favourite!

Full review to come on my blog soon!
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caseythereader's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny hopeful tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Thanks to Books Forward PR for the free advance copy of this book.

 📚 Wow, this book! So much is packed in to the character of Josie and the world she inhabits. I could have followed her forever.
📚 I especially want to point out how easily and seamlessly Garrett gave her characters intersecting marginalizations (Marius is Black and bisexual, Josie is Black, bi, fat, and has an anxiety disorder) that are inextricable from the story but also not the entire reason the book exists.
📚 OFF THE RECORD gets really real about sexual assault and harassment, please know that going in. Everything from "it wasn't that bad" to "this is so egregious I can't believe it isn't already front page news" is covered. 
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